SECONDARY schools in Wales have been told their provisional scores for a new banding system based on exam results, attendance records and social deprivation.

The Welsh Government’s controversial school banding system, unveiled by Education Minister Leighton Andrews in February, will become fully operational in December.

But headteachers were yesterday coming to terms with their provisional scores – which provide the clearest benchmark of performance since league tables.

Disseminated to schools and local authorities by the Welsh Government’s Department for Education, the banding bulletin explains how clusters are calculated.

Banding, which considers a range of school data, groups the nation’s secondaries into one of five bands.

Band One schools are considered best-performing, with good progress made across all measures.

At the opposite end of the scale, Band Five schools are considered “weak relative to others” and in need of more support.

But there is no promise of additional funding to those falling short of the mark, with local authorities and consortia ultimately responsible for improving performance.

Officials from the newly-established School Standards Unit (SSU) analysed raw GCSE results against free school meal entitlement to determine the bands.

Scores were compared year-on-year, while the inclusion of attendance data “reflects the priority placed on ensuring that learners are in school”.

Schools were given their provisional bands – based on last year’s exam results – this week, although parents will have to wait until December to find out definitive scores.

This summer’s GCSEs form the basis of the new banding system, but results are not finalised until appeals processes have been concluded.

Primary bands, originally expected to be in place by the start of the school year in September, will take further modelling.

The introduction of a national school banding system is a cornerstone of Mr Andrews’ five-year plan to raise performance in Welsh schools.

But categorisation in any form is a contentious issue and unions are concerned it may lead to the return of league tables, abolished 10 years ago under pressure from the sector.

David Evans, Wales secretary of the National Union of Teachers, warned that banding could have a damaging effect on schools and crude exam results remain the Welsh Government’s main driver.

“Whichever way you look at it, this is going to cause some concern and consternation with schools as to where they are going to be ranked,” he said.

“We are not averse to anything that helps improve performance and assist schools in achieving the targets set.”

Mr Evans said the Welsh Government’s decision to publish banding levels could trigger a “spiral of decline” in some schools ranked near the bottom.

“It’s going to be natural instinct for any parent or teacher that they want to send their children to a school in a higher band,” he said.

“If there’s a drift of pupils and teachers away from a school, it could end up in a spiral of decline which isn’t in anyone’s interests. We already know there is going to be no additional funding put into those schools.

“We would prefer to allow authorities and schools to identify where they are on their journey and then allow them to deal with it without this external influence which could cause irreparable harm.”

Rex Phillips, NASUWT Wales organiser, believes the new banding system was a “knee-jerk reaction” to Pisa.

Last year’s Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa) results found Welsh 15-year-olds languishing well behind their UK peers in all core subjects.

“Our major concern is that when the information is made public in December, it’s going to be turned into a league table – I can’t see any other way,” he said.

“Information could have been sought in a different way. Local authorities will know already where schools need additional support – and most will be on top of it. These plans are ill considered, ill conceived and have been rushed through.”

But Professor David Egan, a former government advisor and expert in Welsh education, welcomed the range of contextual data being used.

“This information indicates that the Welsh Government have been at pains to introduce banding in a fair and balanced way,” he said.

“I think the worst fears of schools should be assuaged by the approach that has been adopted. It is absolutely essential that students, teachers, leaders, governors and parents are aware of the current achievement of their school against a fair and balanced set of indicators.

Nevertheless, Prof Egan said anyone who uses the information to publish league tables would appear “absurd” and do no favours to education in Wales.

Dr Philip Dixon, director of ATL Cymru, said that if properly used, the banding proposals could help all schools in Wales.

“Crude league tables of raw GCSE results, as seen in England, tell us little about a school’s performance but a great deal about the affluence or poverty of their pupils,” he said.

“By including value-added data and attendance, the banding system could mean that the successes of schools in difficult areas will receive more recognition. These school banding proposals are ostensibly focussed on raising standards across the board, not on driving out poor performers.

“However, few would deny that the Welsh education system is under-performing and no-one has come forward with a better mechanism for improvement.”

A spokesman for the Welsh Government said: “We have committed to the release of information to schools and local authorities. The provisional information is not based on this year’s examination data, which is yet to be made available.

“It will have value to individual schools but it does not offer the full picture at a Wales level.

“The banding system will use a range of information to group schools into broad bands for the purposes of prioritising action and ensuring we identify and share the good practice we have in Wales more effectively.”